Waste disposal apparatus



March 25, 1958 H. J. MACEMAON 1 2,828,083

WASTE DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Dec. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet .1.

INVENTOR HERBERT JFMACEMON HIS AT ORNEY March 25, 1958 H. J. MACEMON 2,828,083

WASTE DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Dec. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Shet 2 FIG. 1

I NVENTOR HERBERT d. MACEMON me, TTORNEY Herbert J. Mace'mon, JeilfersontnwmKy,

become apparent as the United States Patent "ice 2,828,083 WASTE DISPOSAL ArrisnA'r Us assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation-of New York ApplicationDecember 14,19 s5,'ser'ia1 No. 553,119 lClaim. (Cl-341 46) This invention relates to'waste disposal apparatus in which waste material is comminuted in the presence of disposal apparatus of the type having a rotary grinding 'rnember and a stationary grinding member in which drainagemeans associated with the stationary member regulate the quantity of water in thegrinding zone.

Further objects-andadvantages of my invention will following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed :out with particularity-in the'cl'aim annexed to and forming a part of this specifiation.

Brieflystated in accordance 'with one aspect "of rny -invention, I provide a generally cylindrical stationary wall member' provided with shredding'projeetioris and apertures through which comminuted material is expelled, a rotary comminuting member located in, the grinding zone enclosed by'the'w'all member,andapliirality 6f drainage apertures adjacent the "upper ed'geef the wall member so as to limit the maximum quantity of water present in the grinding zone.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is an elevation view, partly in section, of a waste disposal device incorporating my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one member of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a'sectional view taken along the line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a waste disposal device having a generally cylindrical tubular casing or hopper 1 enclosing a grinding or shredding chamber 2 at the bottom of which the comminnting or shredding of waste material takes place as will be described below. The upper end of hopper 1 is provided with means suitable for supporting the device in the drain opening of a sink or the like, the supporting means including a supporting flange 3, a clamping flange 4 and clamping bolts 5, all arranged so that the open top of hopper 1 may be supported in alignment with a sink drain opening. As shown in the drawing, this opening may be arranged to provide a seat for a removable stopper, such as the stopper disclosed in application Serial Number 549,744, filed by Fred W. Moore, November 29, 1955, issued April 2, 1957, as Patent No. 2,787,423 and assigned to the assignee of the present application.- I

The lower end of hopper 1 is provided with a flange 6 which carries mounting screws 7 for securing a motor housing 8 to the hopper so as to form an integral structure. Mounted within motor housing 8 is an electric motor 9 provided with a vertically extending shaft to which is fixedly secured suitable rotary comminuting 2,828,083 mf ill 'ii l M?"- 25, was

2 means lo'cated at'the boftom of 'cliamber 2. In the illustrated embodiment 'of 'my invention the rotary comminuting means comprises 'aflat generally circular flywheel 10 which carries a 'pairrbf*movabledmpellers 11 and12.

Secured to the bo't'tombf tubular-hopper 1 so as to cooperate with flywheel flll ahd its impellers 11 and 12 is a generally cylindricalivall meniber 13 which may be referred to as a shredding ring. A flange 14 at the top of shredding. ring'13 is secured betweenflange 6 of the hopper and the :upper end of motor housing 8 r so that the shredding ring is Estatioirary vvith respe'ct to the hopper although it ;is preferably resiliently "mounted to reduce noise and vibration, as by providing, a resilie'nt gasket 15 between flang'e 14 and the hopper :struture. Shredding ring 13 is 'providedwith a plurality ofshrej dding projections 16 on its inner surface which may be'integrally lanced andiinwardly bent :p'or'ti'ons as "shown in Fig. 4, and also a p'luralit'y of openings- 17 adja'cent the periphery "of flywheel 10 through which coniminute'd material is expelled intoa drainage chamber 118, during grinding operations. Sh'redding ring l3 als'o' includs an annular inwardly 'incline'drshelf 20 around the lower edge thereof whereby 'a ihydi'odyn'amicseallis formed within the annular space between shelf :20 'a'nd flywheel 10'during rotation of the flywheel :in. the'presenceof water, and hence passage 'of waste rnaterial between "the flywheel and the shreddingiringis'apreventedr Preferably the periphery of 'fly'wheel =10is slightlybeveledat an angle equal to the high at whih shelf =20.=is inclined s'o"th"at a narrow annular clearance :space 'definedlbyinclined concentric surfaces separatesshredding ring .13 a'nd flywheel10. During rotation of *flywheel 10 Lin the' presence of water, any water which starts to flow through ithis clearance space is thrown outwardly "by "centrifugal force 'agai'nst' inclined shelf -20=and is "forced upwardly back into the comminuting chamber. "-Hence itwill be 's'een that the water movenient;,p'attern upwardly along 'shelf. 20 in 'the annular spacebetwen the flywheel and the shredding 1'ing'effectively prevents passage of waste material t'herethrough, and in particular the passage of fibrous materials which are generally thrown by centrifugal force into an arcuate position lying along the inner wall of the shredding ring. This sealing structure, which prevents escape of fibrous materials from the comminu'ting chamber until they are chopped into relatively short lengths, is more fully described and claimed in application Serial Number 553,118, filed December 14, 1955, by William D. Ryckman and me and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

From the foregoing it will be evident that during operation of the device shown in the drawing, waste material deposited in comminuting chamber 2 will be rotated by flywheel 10 and impelled against shredding projections 16 by impellers 11 and 12, and that the particles of comminuted material will be expelled'through openings 17 into drainage chamber 18 below flywheel 10 and will finally be carried by the flow of water through the device out through drain outlet 19.

The present invention is directed to the provision of means for preventing the building up of a cushioning layer of water in the grinding zone of the comrninuting chamber, inasmuch as the presence of an excess amount of water in the grinding zone greatly hampers rapid and thorough comminution of waste material. To obtain optimum comminution of waste material, it is desirable that the supply of water in the immediate zone surrounding impellers 11 and 12 be limited to the minimum quantity required to produce a flowable mixture of comminuted waste material so that the mixture can be expelled through openings 17. In the waste disposal device illustrated in the drawing, this problem has been overcome by'the provision of a row of apertures 21 3 7 around the upper portion of shredding ring 13 which perform the function oflimiting the quantity of water in the comminuting zone of chamber 2 to the optimum quantity required for efiicient grinding operations.

Apertures 21 should be small enough towprev'enttpassage of waste particles large than those which may be ex pelled through openings. 17, and yet provide sufficient aperture area to adequately drain the comminuting zone enclosed by shredding ring 13. During grinding operations water entering chamber 2 and falling on flywheel 10 is thrown outwardly by centrifugal force and is either expelled through openings 17 or apertures 21, since any water accumulating around the edge of the grinding zone tends to climb upwardly along the inner surface of shredding ring 13. The total'area of apertures 21 should be large enough to discharge water at arate high enough to preclude the building up of a layer of water on flywheel 16 under normal operating conditions. Since the maximum normal water flow rate through the drain opening of a domestic household kitchen sink during operation of the unit is of the order of 6'gallons per minute, a device intended for use with. such sinks should have suflicient aperture area to accommodate this flow rate. For example, if apertures 21 are one-quarter inch in diameter, approximately 12 apertures spaced about the upper edge of shredding ring 13'are required to maintain the top of flywheel 10 in a substantially dry. condition under normal conditions of household service.

Because of their location along the upper edge of shred ding ring 13, apertures 21 provide a flow of water down the outer surfaces, of the shredding ring thus tending to keep this surface free of waste material and preventing the clogging of the annular space around openings 17 through which comminuted waste material is expelled. Preferably apertures 21 are spaced about the entire periphery of the shredding ring. Finally, a third desirable function performed by apertures 21 is the drainage of chamber 2 when the grinding zone immediately overlying flywheel 10 is filled with waste material and the apparatus is not in operation. Thus apertures 21 function as secondary drainage ports and allow water to pass from the unit when it is not running but is partially filled with waste material. v .7

of a vertically extending tubular hopper having a top.

access opening for receiving Waste material and water, said shredding ring including an upper mounting flange portion, a side wall portion, and a lower inclined shelf portion said side wall portion having a plurality of openings adjacent the loweredge thereof through which comminuted waste material may be radially expelled, a plurality of shredding projections formed on the inner surface of said side wall portion above the level of said openings, a disk shaped flywheel mounted for rotation at the bottom of said shredding ring below said apertures and said shredding projections so as to substantially close the lower end of said hopper, means carried by said flywheel for impelling waste material against said shredding projections during rotation of said flywheehia drainage chamber below said' flywheel for receiving comminuted material expelled from said openings, said side wall portion also having a plurality of drainage apertures therein radially spaced around the upper portion thereof adjacent the uppermost portions of said shredding projections and communicating with said drainage chamber, each of said apertures being smaller than the largest of said openings, whereby water supplied to said comminuted chamber in excess of the water expelled through said openings is directed downwardly along the outer surface of said shredding ring and into said drainage chamber.

2,656,985 Backlund et al. Oct. 27, 1953 Elfenbein July 3, 1956 

